


revolve

by ohallows



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Other, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:55:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22834405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohallows/pseuds/ohallows
Summary: Azu is sitting down on her balcony with a copy of the newest Campbell novel, enjoying the sunset and a glass of wine as the protagonist continues to make simply the worst choices.Enter: Cel.
Relationships: Azu/Celiquillithon "Cel" Sidebottom
Comments: 14
Kudos: 29





	revolve

**Author's Note:**

> isabelle i promised you azu/cel so have some azu/cel
> 
> also ao3 autopopulates azu/cel incorrectly (cel’s name is spelled wrong) and idk how to fix it
> 
> DISCLAIMER: this was written before cel’s age was revealed! as they’re like.... in their 40s/50s in human years and clearly significantly older than azu, i no longer feel comfortable shipping them, but i also don’t want to take these fics down. so, just a heads up, this was written from a perspective where they were much closer in age. also i won’t be writing any more azu/cel for reasons stated above.

Azu is sitting down on her balcony with a copy of the newest Campbell novel, enjoying the sunset and a glass of wine as the protagonist continues to make simply the  _ worst  _ choices. The book’s on loan from Zolf, who’d only given it to her after she’d promised that she’d text him with any thoughts about this new installment. She’s already wanted to drag Karolina away from about three men, but she’s invested in the nice woman from the bookshop that Karolina keeps thinking about, and she’s hoping they end up together in the end. 

Zolf isn’t texting her back, which isn’t the most surprising considering his general attitude toward technology is a resounding shrug, but she  _ does  _ want to know if she’s simply reading into things. The book itself is nice, even if Karolina is a little dumb and can’t sort out her own feelings, but Azu doesn’t read them for the plot. She reads them for the  _ romance  _ and, honestly, for the lovely muscular people on the covers. 

She bookmarks the page she’s on as her phone buzzes, reminding her to take her meds, and sets it down carefully. Zolf is very particular about how people treat his Campbell’s, and Azu wants to respect his trust. She stands and stretches, heading inside to switch out a glass of water for her wine. As she gets back outside, she notices a few strange thumps coming from Cel’s apartment above her, and looks up. 

“Er -Cel? Are you alright?” she calls, apprehension starting to settle in.

“Azu, you down there?” they respond, sounding excited. “Well, hope you’re decent, I’m coming down anyway!”

Azu stands up, worried, as a rope falls over the edge of the balcony above her. “Er - Cel? Is this - is this safe?” 

“As safe as anything I do!” Cel calls, which, well, isn’t as much of a reassurance as they might intend it to be. “Don’t, er - don’t worry! Completely secure, I made Jasper test it out at the university the other day, and it  _ should  _ hold my weight.”

“Cel, I  _ have a front door,” _ Azu calls, leaning out over the edge of her own balcony and looking up, trying to get a glance of Cel as they putter about up there. “I’ll even go unlock it, you can -“

“Too late!” Cel chirps, and then their head pokes out over the balcony; they’re wearing… some weird contraption around their chest that looks like a safety harness, even if it’s done up in neon pink. Azu blushes; Cel knows it’s her favorite color, and she can’t help but think it’s intentional. “Mind your head!” 

Azu ducks back under her own balcony, wringing her hands together. She grabs up her phone just in case she has to dial 999, feeling the anxiety curling its way around her veins. 

“Here we go!” she hears, and takes an unconscious step forward. “Geronimo!”

A pair of feet poke out from behind the balcony as Azu watches, and then Cel swears very creatively a few times in at least three different languages as their feet start to kick out. They disappear, scrabbling up the wall, and Azu raises an eyebrow as Cel’s  _ head  _ appears, followed by about half their torso before it comes to a stop. They grumble, and Azu hears them pulling at the rope, but they don’t move any more. 

Their hair points straight toward the ground, which would be a rational behavior of gravity if Azu didn’t already know that their hair points straight up from Cel’s head at all times. 

“This didn’t work as well as I thought it would,” Cel says, looking all around themselves as they hang there, suspended in air. Azu’s heartbeat spikes as they let go of the rope, but they don’t move, staring straight ahead at her, upside down. “It worked so much better with Jasper, maybe I should -“

“Cel,  _ what…”  _ Azu trails off, taking a step forward as their heart kicks up a beat. Her hands go to Cel’s shoulders, as though she’ll be able to stop them falling, and Cel must see the worry in her gaze. They wave their hands around, almost like they’re trying to bat the worry away. 

“Don’t worry at all, it’s completely secure, it’s tied off, I just wanted it to lower me down to get to you faster than walking all around the building. Also, I hate -“

“Stairs, yes, I know,” Azu says, hands hovering there awkwardly. “Are you sure you won’t fall?” 

“One hund - well, maybe 98 percent? A soft 95. Wait -“ they struggle for a minute, pulling on the rope as Azu gasps, and then hang there, defeated, still not having moved. “Definitely 98 percent.” 

“What were you  _ thinking?”  _ Azu says, and a part of her  _ is  _ charmed but mostly she feels nervous and anxious at the prospect of Cel being in danger.

“I wanted to surprise you,” Cel laments, face scrunching up. “They always do this in the movies, and I figured it would be fun and you’d like it. You always like romantic stuff like this, and I like making you happy.”

“Oh, I do, and  _ you  _ do,” Azu reassures them, cradling their cheeks between her hands. “I just also want you to be safe?”

“Mm,” Cel hums.

“You could have just  _ come in,  _ love,” Azu says, laughing. “I  _ gave you a key.” _

“It seemed  _ romantic _ at the time,” Cel grumbles, crossing their hands over their chest. “Didn’t think it through, I suppose.”

Azu leans forward and kisses them, a chaste press of lips that’s only a little awkward from the angle and from Cel being in the middle of a word when she leaned in. It’s a little strange, with Azu’s nose rubbing against Cel’s chin as she holds them in place. Cel makes a happy hum and presses into the kiss, as much as they can while dangling off a balcony. Their hands come up and frame her face, before one arm wraps around Azu’s neck and pulls her deeper into the kiss. 

They break apart eventually, both of them breathing a bit more heavily than before as Azu notes Cel’s kiss-red lips with a sense of satisfaction. Cel doesn’t open their eyes for a minute, almost like they’re pretending they’re still in the moment, and then they blink open languidly.

“What was that for?” they say. “Not that I’m complaining, mind, it was  _ very  _ nice, and I’m very happy, but I was just wondering what exactly, er, prompted it, so that I could do it more?”

“For being romantic,” Azu says with a smile. 

“Ah. Ah! Well, then, I’m going to. Do this more often, I guess? Good, er, good to know, thank you,” Cel says, and Azu can’t tell if the blush on their cheeks is from the kiss or from the blood slowly rushing to their head. She’s going to pretend it’s mostly from the kiss.

“Can you - can we please get you down?” Azu asks, looking over the edge of the balcony. 

“Er, I can - give me a minute, let’s see,” their hands disappear as they stretch, and Azu watches them struggle back and forth for a while, still a  _ little  _ scared that they’re going to fall, even if Cel had reassured her that the rope would hold. 

“Can you - yeah, I am… completely stuck, actually,” Cel says, wriggling around like a dolphin and getting absolutely nowhere. “Like a… can of sardines. Tin!  _ Tin  _ of sardines. Just packed on in here, and, well, it’s starting to get a bit uncomfortable.”

“Do you want me to help?” Azu asks, raising an eyebrow, and Cel smiles, a bit sheepishly. 

“Please?” they say, and Azu can’t help the fond chuckle. “You’ll need to go up to mine, and just pull me up? You - you have… gorgeous muscles, actually, have I told you that recently? So you really shouldn’t have any trouble hauling me up, which is something I’m very happy to realize but less happy to realize when I’m stuck like this and can’t do anything about it -“

“ _ Cel,” _ Azu interrupts, holding out a finger and pressing it to their lips. “I’m going to go grab the key you gave me, and go upstairs, and then we’re going to get you out of this contraption, yes?”

Cel nods, meekly. “Sorry, Azu. I really did think this would be romantic.”

Azu can’t help it; she leans forward and kisses them, thumbs rubbing against their jaw as she tilts their head into the kiss. “It was,” she says, brushing the word across their lips. “And I’ll  _ show  _ you how romantic it was when you aren’t wrapped up in a rope dangling over the street.”

Cel’s eyes are bright when she pulls away, and they bite at their lips as Azu takes a step back. “Okay,” they call after her, and Azu starts to clear up the items on the small table. “Okay, I’ll be - I’ll be waiting patiently. As patiently as… I don’t know, what’s patient? A meerkat? I -“ 

Azu shakes her head, fond, and shuts the door on Cel’s rambling. She’s got a partner to save from themselves and their own terrible ideas, and then they can see where the night takes them.

**Author's Note:**

> idk this isn’t my best but i wanted to get it out here anyway happy friday


End file.
